The Harsh Reality
by midnightdragonns
Summary: Lightning McQueen has everything going for him. He had met his best friend and girlfriend, somehow gotten the Fabulous Hudson Hornet as his crew chief, and his career is taking off in a great direction. All is well until Lightning's dad decides to make a reappearance and suddenly things get a little complicated. Humanized!
1. and so it begins

**Okay, quick note. Everyone in the story is humanized and slightly younger than they are in the movie. Lightning is about 16, while Sally and Mater are about 17. Luigi, Guido, and Red are in their mid-twenties while Flo and Ramone are in their late twenties. Sheriff is in his late thirties, and Doc is about 40.**

* * *

By this point, Lightning knew that people expected a lot from him because of the outcome from his last race.

He knew that many of his fans expected him to win the most, if not all, races next season. Other racers knew he was a threat. Other companies wanted him to race for them.

In the past two weeks, Radiator Springs had been swarmed with several tourists, fans, and paparazzi wanting to meet Lightning McQueen and his crew chief, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet. The town was growing and coming back to life.

* * *

The day was surprisingly calm. Visitors had slowed down to a smooth lull, allowing the town's residents to catch a quick break. Since it was a slow day, a majority of the townsfolk decided to take a break at Flo's, catching up with one another.

Lightning, Mater, and Sally had taken a spot in front of Flo's cafe. There was a small pile of letters and envelopes on their table. All of them were for Lightning. They were from his fans, praising him for having such good sportsmanship or thanking him for being so inspirational and being a good role model.

"Wow, guys, look at this drawing this person sent." Lightning passed the drawing around.

"They've got your smile down pretty good Stickers." Sally commented.

"They've even added your catch phrase too!" Mater excitedly added, "Ka-chow!"

Lightning joined in, flashing his signature smile, "Ka-chow!"

Sally let out a short laugh and asked, "How did you even come up with that Stickers?"

Lightning thought for a minute, "Um, well, when I was younger, I sneezed and banged my toe against a table at the same time and went 'kahhch-ow!'. I thought it sounded really cool so it kinda stuck."

The other two teens starting laughing.

"Hey!" Lightning said, quickly trying to defend himself, "I was 12! You can't really blame me for that!"

""Yeah, but you're 16 and you're still saying it so…!" Sally stated through her laughter.

Lightning bit his lip, and turned his now red face to the side, looking off into the distance. He tried to ignore the other two laughing at him by focusing on his surroundings. There wasn't much going on, but something that caught his eyes was a car rolling in the town.

The car was a shiny, black Ford Mustang. It was obviously a new model, which in itself, was pretty intriguing. All the new fancy cars had appeared in the town the week after Lightning's race, but eventually stopped coming. Seeing this kind of car now caught a lot of the town's residents attention.

The car parked in front of Flo's, and when the door opened, a big, strong, man stepped out of the car. And whatever feeling Lightning had been feeling earlier, happiness or embarrassment, had been replaced with an emptiness; a numbness which he hate, hate, _hated_ feeling. He swiftly turned his head back towards his friends, and hoped that the man that had stepped out of that black car was not who he thought he was or would get back into his car and leave.

Instead, the man walked towards one of the free tables, one far away from where Lightning sitting thankfully, and sat down. Flo, who was serving other customers, peeked over at the guy. At first glance, the man seemed to be giving off an powerful, imitating, confident aura. He wore a brown leather jacket with ripped jeans, and had his long hair tied back in a low ponytail. But, as she made her way towards him, she noticed that he also seemed kind of nervous. And yet, there was something off about that too.

"Hello, welcome to Flo's V8 cafe! What can I get you?" She gave him her waitress smile while trying to figure out who this guy was.

"A black coffee with two shots of espresso." He shot her with a lopsided grin.

"Would that be all?"

The man let loose a somewhat nervous-sounding chuckle, "Actually, would you happen to where Lightning McQueen is? I'd like to say hello to him, Haven't seen the kid in a while."

One of Flo's eyebrows raised. "You know him?"

"I'm his dad."

"O-oh!" Flo took a step back in shock, "You're his dad? Well, it's a pleasure meeting you then."

"Mmm, thanks," the man replied, "it's a pleasure to meet you too miss…?"

"Ah, Flo. Your son's actually just over there." Flo gestured over to the table where Lightning sat, back facing them.

The man nodded and slowly got up.

"Wait, before you go, mind if I ask you for your name?"

"Oh! Sorry, how rude of me! I'm Axton. Axton McQueen." Axton gave her a small smile. "Thanks for your help."

"No problem." Flo returned his smile before walking back towards the cafe, keeping an eye on the McQueen duo.


	2. a bittersweet reunion

**Alright, it seems that in the last chapter I had forgotten to do a disclaimer so I'mma do here. I don't own Cars at all. Yep. Also, this _might_ be a bit out of character. I don't know. I'm sorry. I tried.**

* * *

Lightning knew that his dad was making his way towards him. He could feel his gaze on his back. A part of him wanted to stand up and walk away so that he didn't have to deal with this. He was having a good time, with people that actually seemed to care for him, and then suddenly his dad, _dad_ , of all people, had to show up.

A part of Lightning wanted to stand and up walk away so he didn't have to deal with this, but the rest of his body didn't want to cooperate with him. It felt like he was out of his body and he couldn't control anything, so he had to just sit there and wait to see what happened next. He sat there and watched as his friends curiously looking at the mysterious man who had stopped in front of their table.

"Hey there kid," the man started with a fond, gentle smile, "you've grown a lot since I've last seen you."

And, as much as that stung Lightning, he couldn't help but feel a little lost. Hearing his dad's voice made him feel so lost and young again. It made him feel that the past 13 years hadn't happened and he was back in a place he once considered home where his family was whole again; where his mom wasn't dead and his dad hadn't left them.

That feeling lasted until Sally spoke up.

"Do you two know each other?"

And then, that perfect picture in Lightning's mind, where both his parents were still together and he was a perfectly happy, _normal_ child, was shattered. Memories of his dad leaving them out of nowhere and his mom struggling everyday just to provide her child came back, and Lightning a slow anger began to build up within him. His dad however, answered the question as if he had done so a thousand times, fueling Lightning's anger even further.

"I'm his dad."

While Lightning gritted his teeth in anger, Sally and Mater took a few seconds to absorb this new information before firing questions at Axton nonstop.

"Were you the one who got Lightning into racing?

"Did you teach Lightning everything he knows about racing?"

"Were you even a racer?"

"If you were, did you ever raced against Doc Hudson? The Fabulous Hudson Hornet?"

"Is Lightning's name really Lightning?"

Axton was caught off guard with the questions and took a moment to think about them. But before he could even get a syllable out, Lightning exploded.

"I don't what you think you're doing here, but I want you outta this town. If you came here just to see me, then leave. If you think that you can just waltz back into my life after abandoning me for thirteen years, you are dead wrong. I hope you didn't expected me to be overwhelmed with happiness or anything by seeing you, cause you are the last thing I ever wanted to see in my life."

At this point, Lightning had gotten the attention of everyone around Flo's. His chair was knocked over. His eyes was filled with a type fire no one had ever seen before. His voice was raised loudly. And yet, his dad, on the other hand, was completely calm in his response.

"I didn't expect you to be happy to see me or anything, but I am hoping that you'll give me a chance to make it up to you."

"And how would you do that, huh? By apologizing for disappearing for 13 years and never giving me and mom a call to see how we were doing? By showing up and hoping that would make everything okay? That it would work itself out? Because that won't cut it."

His dad blinked. "I… I should have expected this…"

Lightning blinked too, and then, using his anger as a crutch, he . "Maybe you should've, because, I don't know too much about having kids or anything, but I'm pretty sure that when you abandon them, when you leave their lives without leaving a trace, never contacting them, will leave them with a lot of questions. So I don't know what you expect or want from, you're most likely not gonna get anytime soon."

Axton nodded solemnly and took in a deep breath. "I know. I deserved that. And I'm sorry."

His tone was so pitiful, so regretful. It sounded like he wished that he could've gone back and fix every mistake he had ever made. And Lightning couldn't handle it. How dare he come back, offering a small, lousy apology, and thinking that that would make things fine between them.

But in spite of that, despite how much he wanted to yell and scream at his dad, he knew how much of a scene he was making. He could feel everyone's eyes on him. His friends and tourists alike were all watching the argument unfold with so much anticipation. And as much as he didn't want to care about them, he did. Because they didn't need to know about this. They didn't need to know about his childhood. They didn't need to know about this man standing in front of him.

So with a split second decision, Lightning decided to go with the most reasonable, most sensible path.

He looked his dad right in the eye and hissed two words at him before storming off.

"Fuck you."

* * *

 **Ugh, I can't believe I wrote that.**

 **Well anyways, y'all don't have to read this note here, but I'd just like to thank everyone who left a review, favorited, or followed this story! Next update will be either Monday or Tuesday. So, yeah, thanks for reading and hope you have a nice day. :)**


	3. things you should know

The town's visitors began to whisper among themselves as Lightning stormed off.

" _Who's the man that McQueen just yelled at?_ "

" _I think that might his dad…?_ "

" _Wow, I can't believe that really just happened._ "

Some of them were taking pictures with their phones and sharing what they had just witnessed on several different forms of social media.

Sally took a look around and knew immediately that that probably wasn't going to do any good on Lightning's image. Some people already believed that the crash with The King was a publicity stunt, and if people hear about him yelling at someone, someone that they probably thought was a random fan, then he might lose more than a few fans and his new reputation could be brought down. A small frown made way to her face.

Another car came down the road before skidding to a stop in front of the cafe. Sally and Mater looked over only to see Sheriff's car. Out stepped Sheriff and Doc, both worriedly looking over the crowd. They were dealing with the delinquent road hazards when they heard Lightning yelling from down the road, and then came down as fast as they could, thinking something terrible had happened.

As Doc scanned the scene before him, he realized that Lightning wasn't around anymore and he immediately looked over to Sally and Mater. He sent them a questioning, yet concern look. All he got in return was a nod towards Axton and mouthed words. For a second, he thought that he read Mater's lips correctly.

'Lightning's dad?' he thought, 'The kid never mentioned his dad before. He'd always avoid the topic of his family.'

He remembered the few times that he and the rest of the town had brought up the topic of the Lightning's family and how weird the kid acted about it.

The first time it happened was after his last race. Doc had made a comment of how the Lightning's parents must have been proud of him. The boy had tensed and nodded before changing the subject.

The second time was a few days later. They were sitting in Flo's cafe, celebrating, and somehow, the topic of family had came up. When asked where his parents were, Lightning had answered in a seemingly happy tone, but Doc could detect the underlying irritation in it.

The third time it was brought up was in an interview that the kid somehow convinced him to go to. The interviewer was asking some questions about the Lightning's past and then, he asked if the boy if his parents were worried when he disappeared for a week and what were their reactions. He was slightly curious to hear about that too, but Lightning had given them a pretty generic answer, but the interviewer didn't push the kid on it.

Doc had assumed that maybe the boy had a bad relationship with his parents, but if that was true, then several things would have to come into question. One of them was where did he get his permission to race, as minors do need permission to be allowed to race. So Doc came up with other assumptions.

Maybe one of his parents weren't in a good place and he didn't want to talk about them. Maybe one of one his parents were known for something he didn't want to be connected with. Maybe he and his parents weren't getting along for the moment and he didn't want to talk about it.

No matter, Doc didn't push him on the topic. Though, once, it had crossed his mind to maybe do some research on the kid. Maybe something terrible happened to him in his childhood that was connected to his parents. But in the end, he decided that that would have been an invasion of privacy. No matter how close they were now, it didn't seem right to poke into someone's past without their consent or knowledge. So Doc decided to leave it alone. If the kid wanted to tell him something, he'll listening.

But at the moment, Lightning was nowhere to be seen, and, as much as Doc wanted to go and find out what happened from him, he knew that the kid wouldn't be in the mood for talking, or at least talking civilly, so that left him to deal with the kid's father.

Doc walked up to the man and introduced himself. "Hello, I heard to you were Lightning's father? I'm Doc Hudson.

The other man pulled away from his thoughts to look at Doc. "Yeah, I am. Axton McQueen."

The two men shook hands. However, before they could continue their conversation, Sheriff came up and suggested that they headed inside, where there were less people and a less likelier chance of eavesdroppers. Sally and Matter hurriedly followed them, wanting to find out more about Lightning's dad.

Already inside the cafe were Ramone, Sarge, and Fillmore. The trio were already informed who Axton was by Flo, and instantly quieted when they saw him come in. They had only known Lightning for a few weeks, and although that didn't allow much time for them to get to know the young hotshot, they had never seen or heard Lightning acting the way he did. Heck, he was even better behaved when he crashed into the town.

Doc, Sheriff, and Axton settle in front of the cafe bar. Mater and Sally joined the other men at their booth. Axton finally got his coffee from Flo while Doc and Sheriff each ordered a lunch of their own.

As soon as everyone settled in, the room became quiet, everyone waiting for someone to do something.

Axton cleared his throat. "So I… I suppose you're all curious as to why Lightning was yelling at me."

"We haven't known the kid for long man," Ramone stated, "but we've never seen him act like that before."

"Yeah," a sigh escaped Axton's lips, "And I'm afraid I'm to blame for that. It's been a long time since he and I've last seen each other, you see. Way too long. I… left him and his mother when he was really young. Wasn't ready for the reality to be a father."

"...Did you ever tried to contact them?" Sally asked.

Axton took a sip of his coffee. "No, I didn't. Honestly, I forgot about them. I made a new life for myself. And then, a few weeks ago, I saw him in the news, the papers, everywhere, and I thought that maybe it was a message from the universe or something, telling me I should go back and fix the mistake I made long ago. So I came down here to reconnect with him. I knew that he would have harbored some negative feelings towards me, but I had hoped that he would've given me a chance before he started yelling."

"You probably surprised him," Doc said, slowly, "Coming out of the blue. Give him today to take in what happened, and maybe try again tomorrow."

That surprised everyone in the room, including Doc himself. He wasn't even sure of what he was saying, but he did think that maybe Lightning reconnecting with his dad would be good for the kiddo. The man seemed to have good intentions. He deserved a second chance.

Axton, however, only made a sound of agreement. "I just hope he'll give me a chance before pushing me away."

* * *

 **and over in this chapter you can tell the author has no idea what she's doing at all.**

 **ehh, i might elaborate more on how everyone in the town reacts to lightning's dad in the next chapter, but don't count on it.**

 **anyways, thanks again to everyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited this story. next update will be some time by the end of the week.**

 **bye, have a nice day!**


	4. nothing of importance happens

**Gahh, sorry for keep you guys waiting for so long! I'm terrible I know. I don't own Cars.**

 **Anyways, here's what you came here for.**

* * *

Lightning was sprawled all over his bed, staring at the ceiling as he reflected on the previous day's events.

He hadn't meant to flip out at his dad the way he did, but the way that his dad had showed up out of nowhere and acted so casually about it, as if they were had some kind of normal father-son relationship, irked him to no end. So afterwards, he had stormed all the way down to Willy' Butte and sat around brooding and sulking.

About an hour or so later, when Lightning had finally calmed down and stopped moping around, he headed back to the small town. He expected that his friends and fans would want some answers on why he acted the way he did, and he wasn't wrong. Several of his fans immediately jumped up to ask questions and take his picture, but luckily, Doc had saw this coming and sent Luigi and Guido to keep them off of Lightning.

The two Italians formed a mini barrier around the racer as he quickly made his way to his Cozy Cone. Once he got inside, he heard the sighs of disappointments followed with the sound of fading footsteps. He let out a sigh of relief and shouted his thanks to Luigi and Guido through the door.

For the rest of the day, Lightning spent his day inside his room. He entertained himself by watching TV or reading up on some other racing legends. He didn't head out to Flo's for dinner since his dad's car still seemed to be parked outside and he did not want to have to face the man yet, so Doc had to come by and bring him some food.

The two spent awhile talking about racing technique, other racing legends, and how Doc needed to go to more interviews with Lightning. They didn't talk about Lightning's earlier outburst or his dad, and for that, Lightning was thankful. He wasn't ready to talk about it yet. And Doc was fine with that. He just wanted to make sure that the kid was alright. So they left that subject alone.

But that was yesterday. Today, he had to face his dad no matter what. He didn't have an excuse to hide in his room all day again.

Lightning pulled himself out of bed at an incredible slow pace, sighing as he did so. He went through his whole morning routine at a slower pace than normal, hoping that it would delay the day altogether. Sadly, life doesn't stop for anyone, and Lightning McQueen was no exception.

Stifling a yawn, he stepped outside to see that his dad's car was parked near a room that was almost directly across from his. A part of him knew that his dad would've stayed, but the part of him that hoped that his dad had left was disappointed.

He was about to walk to Flo's to get some breakfast, but then, his dad had suddenly appeared by his side. Lightning jumped back in shock and was about to turn around and go back to his Cozy Cone because ' _It's way too early for this; it's only ten-thirty!_ ' when his dad grabbed him by the wrist.

"Okay, look. Before you leave, yell at me, or do anything, just listen. You and I both know that I messed up badly, okay? And I came here to try to make it up to you, but if you keep screaming and avoiding me, I can't do that." A slightly frustrated sigh escaped from the older man. "Give me another chance and join me for breakfast."

And Lightning, for some unknown reason, agreed.

The McQueen duo began walking towards the cafe in an uncomfortable silence. Lightning trailed after his dad, rubbing his wrist and wondering what on earth made him agree to this.

When they walked through the doors of the cafe, all eyes turned on them for a few seconds, wondering what was about to happen. The duo settled in a booth in the corner, far from the rest of the other diners. One of the Mia-Tia twin went over to take their orders, and was also hoping to catch something juicy but was sent away after the duo had given their orders.

The two settled into their silence once more. Axton tried break it a few times, but was shut down by one of Lightning's witty comment. The older McQueen slowly became more frustrated.

Finally, their food came.

As Axton began to dig into his food, Lightning decided to finally speak, "What I want to know is why you left me and mom."

"Cutting straight to the point huh?"

All he received was a blank face.

"Alright… I left you and your mom because I wasn't ready for you, for your mom, for anyone. I left because I was a mess and because I couldn't support you two enough. Because we were a family, and family has to look out for one another and I couldn't do that. So that's why I left."

Lightning nodded. It wasn't what he was expecting, or even wanted, but it would do. For now.

From there, the conversation went on more causally. The two talked about bits and parts of their everyday life. Lightning glossed over details and left out parts to stories, but his dad on the other hand, gave very generic answers. The only thing that Lightning found out about his dad was that he lived somewhere in South Tucson. But that didn't really matter to Lightning. He was eating up every word that his dad spoke.

Soon, they finished their breakfast, and Lightning was showing his dad around the town. As they made their way around the town, Lightning noticed that some of his friends were surprised by how well and how quick him and his dad were getting along. Some of them watched the older McQueen with suspicion. They felt as if the man was here for something more than just Lightning. But eventually, once they saw that everything that everything was fine, the feeling began to subside. Others automatically liked him right away.

At the end of the day, Axton had won over most or all of the townsfolk, and had spent the majority of the day with Lightning. Overall, the day had went better than either of them had expected and both felt at least a bit better than the day before.

The next morning, Lightning and Axton decided to go on a drive to see the scenery the town had to offer. They decided that this would have been a good bonding activity. Plus, they'd get some privacy from Lightning's fans and not be watched or followed around. Axton drove the car as Lightning talked about the history of the sceneries around them.

They had gotten a drink at The Wheel Well, and were now making the slow drive back to the small town. The car was filled with silence, until Axton broke it.

"So how long are you sticking around here?"

"Actually, I'm staying here for… maybe the rest of my life…? It's a great town with lovely people, and I've got a permanent room at the Cozy Cone- Sally's letting me stay there 'til I can get a place of my own, or forever if I want to. Though, I'm thinking when I turn 18, I'll get a team of builders down here to build me a house or something."

"... You're really sticking around here for that long? I would've thought that you would've found a more… stable place to live. Or at least somewhere where you'd have a lesser chance at being kicked out."

Lightning took a moment to take in what his dad just said. "What? What's that suppose to mean?"

"Well, I mean, these folks probably only took you in because you're bringing in money for them. You're attracting more people than they've had for years, if I'm not mistaken. With your publicity stunt with The King-"

"It wasn't a stunt."

"-you're even more popular than before. People like you better than they did before. And these townspeople probably saw their big opportunity to bring in some cash and took it."

"So you're saying they traveled all the way to my race in Cali just to get some tourists to their town?" Lightning was becoming a bit mad. "That's doubtful."

"Don't forget that your crew chief is the Fabulous Hudson Hornet. He could've wanted to get back into the racing world and you were his way back in."

"That's ridiculous!" Lightning nearly shouted. "He- he didn't want to get back into the racing world!"

Axton smiled slightly and said, "Oh? So you dragged him back into that world? He didn't want to go back and you dragged him back? Well, that's another reason. He probably doesn't even like you."

Lightning didn't respond, going over the things his dad had said. Axton gave a short chuckle. "You've got yourself two reasons as to why you should move to somewhere better."

A thought popped into his head.

"On that note, where are your foster parents? Aren't you suppose to be staying with them? I don't think I've gotten the honor to meet them yet."

Lightning kept silent, not wanting to answer his dad's question, but in doing so, he did.

"Oh! So you ran away from them? Or you ran away from the system altogether! You know that's technically illegal in Arizona and a few other states."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Lightning asked, unsure of where this conversation was heading.

"Nothing," Lightning looked over in surprise, "if, that is, you do something for me in return."

Of course.

"And what's that?"

"I'm need to borrow some money."

And Lightning nearly laughed. Of course, how could he have been so stupid? How could have he not seen this coming?

"And I'm guessing if I don't agree to this, you'll go and tell people about this?"

"Sure. I'm pretty sure there's a few journalists that would love to hear about this. Heck, maybe I'll bring this into court and get those townsfolk you seem to love so much in trouble for harboring a runaway. Maybe I'll get custody over you again and take away your racing privilege. You'd love that wouldn't you?"

Lightning blinked, and then stopped listening to his dad listing all the things he could do to make his life a living hell. All just for money. He was lost in his thought, panicking and trying to think on whether he should get this over with and give his dad the money. Part of him knew that he was being silly and should obviously just give his dad the money he wanted, but he couldn't give an answer yet. Not when he wasn't one hundred percent sure about it. He needed time to think things through.

Suddenly, they were pulling into the town and the car came a full stop.

"You've got until the end of the week to make your mind."

* * *

 **Alright, so the reason this is like, three days late is because, the one I was originally going to publish didn't make any sense so I had to go back and rewrite the whole thing. It took me a while to figure out how I wanted this story to play out, and it took a while to do a bit of research on Arizona's laws on runaways.**

 **Anyways, I know there's a few holes and gaps here, but don't worry, you'll be filled in on those gaps in some of the future chapters. If I haven't went over them by then, feel free to yell at me.**

 **Lastly, thank you to everyone who's left a review, favorited, or followed this story between this and the last chapter. The next update will be sometime next week. So bye!**


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